Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
What does it really mean to be “seriously well read”?
This is a deep conversation about classic literature, reading goals, BookTube, and the joy of discovering great books.
I'm Mike - this is Riff Raff's Reading Renaissance. Welcome!
In this video, I take on the Seriously Well Read Tag created by Randy Ray at The Literate Texan and explore the books, authors, and reading experiences that transformed my relationship with literature forever.
From Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina to War and Peace, The Iliad, Moby-Dick, Dostoevsky, James Joyce, and Lolita, this discussion dives deep into:
* The books that changed my life
* Why classic literature isn’t as intimidating as people think
* How I approach massive books strategically
* Reading with intention
* The meaning of literary canon
* Whether “well read” even has a definition
If you love BookTube, classic literature, literary discussion, reading philosophy, or ambitious reading projects, this video is for you.
If you enjoy this video please consider Liking, Subscribing, Ringing the Annotation Bell and leaving a Comment so the algorithm knows you enjoyed it and promotes it further. This will help me reach a broader audience. Thanks for watching.
Here is Randy's original Tag at @LiterateTexan - youtube.com/watch?v=gzqBEFNupfg&t=47s
and Ally's (who tagged me) at @genteelblackhole -
youtube.com/watch?v=Es6WaAW5pyg
Timestamps / Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:14 #1 The Book That Made Me Take Reading Seriously
04:02 #2 Understanding Difficult Books
06:00 #3 My Personal Required Reading List (3 Books)
09:28 #4 Preparing To Read James Joyce
13:40 #5 My Struggle With The Karamazov Brothers
15:20 #6 How Anna K Taught Me How To Read Chunkers
18:45 #7 Quality Vs Quantity In Reading
20:11 #8 It’s Not About The Genre
23:06 #9 Misunderstood Literature & Flawed Characters
26:04 #10 The Role of Reading In Your Life (Reading with Intent)
29:02 Final Thoughts & Tag Invitation
Books mentioned include:
Anna Karenina — by Leo Tolstoy
Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will — by Robert Sapolsky
The Grand Design — by Stephen Hawking
The Iliad — by Homer
War and Peace — by Leo Tolstoy
Moby-Dick — by Herman Melville
Dubliners — by James Joyce
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man — by James Joyce
Ulysses — by James Joyce
Finnegans Wake — by James Joyce
Crime and Punishment — by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Brothers Karamazov — by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Middlemarch — by George Eliot
The Left Hand of Darkness — by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Hobbit — by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings — by J. R. R. Tolkien
Lolita — by Vladimir Nabokov
Macbeth — by William Shakespeare
The Western Canon — by Harold Bloom
Well Read Black Girl – by Glory Edim
The Gay Canon – by Robert Drake
Confessions — by Saint Augustine
The Odyssey — by Homer
And for the almighty algorithm:
#BookTube #ClassicLiterature #ReadingVlog #AnnaKarenina #WarAndPeace #JamesJoyce #Tolstoy #Dostoevsky #MobyDick #ReadingJourney #GreatBooks #LiteraryDiscussion #BooksAndReading #TheIliad #BookTag
What does it really mean to be “seriously well read”?
This is a deep conversation about classic literature, reading goals, BookTube, and the joy of discovering great books.
I'm Mike - this is Riff Raff's Reading Renaissance. Welcome!
In this video, I take on the Seriously Well Read Tag created by Randy Ray at The Literate Texan and explore the books, authors, and reading experiences that transformed my relationship with literature forever.
From Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina to War and Peace, The Iliad, Moby-Dick, Dostoevsky, James Joyce, and Lolita, this discussion dives deep into:
* The books that changed my life
* Why classic literature isn’t as intimidating as people think
* How I approach massive books strategically
* Reading with intention
* The meaning of literary canon
* Whether “well read” even has a definition
If you love BookTube, classic literature, literary discussion, reading philosophy, or ambitious reading projects, this video is for you.
If you enjoy this video please consider Liking, Subscribing, Ringing the Annotation Bell and leaving a Comment so the algorithm knows you enjoyed it and promotes it further. This will help me reach a broader audience. Thanks for watching.
Here is Randy's original Tag at @LiterateTexan - youtube.com/watch?v=gzqBEFNupfg&t=47s
and Ally's (who tagged me) at @genteelblackhole -
youtube.com/watch?v=Es6WaAW5pyg
Timestamps / Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:14 #1 The Book That Made Me Take Reading Seriously
04:02 #2 Understanding Difficult Books
06:00 #3 My Personal Required Reading List (3 Books)
09:28 #4 Preparing To Read James Joyce
13:40 #5 My Struggle With The Karamazov Brothers
15:20 #6 How Anna K Taught Me How To Read Chunkers
18:45 #7 Quality Vs Quantity In Reading
20:11 #8 It’s Not About The Genre
23:06 #9 Misunderstood Literature & Flawed Characters
26:04 #10 The Role of Reading In Your Life (Reading with Intent)
29:02 Final Thoughts & Tag Invitation
Books mentioned include:
Anna Karenina — by Leo Tolstoy
Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will — by Robert Sapolsky
The Grand Design — by Stephen Hawking
The Iliad — by Homer
War and Peace — by Leo Tolstoy
Moby-Dick — by Herman Melville
Dubliners — by James Joyce
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man — by James Joyce
Ulysses — by James Joyce
Finnegans Wake — by James Joyce
Crime and Punishment — by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Brothers Karamazov — by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Middlemarch — by George Eliot
The Left Hand of Darkness — by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Hobbit — by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings — by J. R. R. Tolkien
Lolita — by Vladimir Nabokov
Macbeth — by William Shakespeare
The Western Canon — by Harold Bloom
Well Read Black Girl – by Glory Edim
The Gay Canon – by Robert Drake
Confessions — by Saint Augustine
The Odyssey — by Homer
And for the almighty algorithm:
#BookTube #ClassicLiterature #ReadingVlog #AnnaKarenina #WarAndPeace #JamesJoyce #Tolstoy #Dostoevsky #MobyDick #ReadingJourney #GreatBooks #LiteraryDiscussion #BooksAndReading #TheIliad #BookTag
